The Elite Fear
by ThisDude32
Summary: This is a Nuzlocke Challenge Story. We follow the adventure of Blue and his Charmander Athena. The background to the world is much different from what you are familiar with though. The Elite Council has taken it's role as the governing force of the Pokemon world and fear runds throughout the multiple regions.
1. Athena

We live in fear.

Long abolished is the government that once ruled the nations of our pokemon world. The Elite Council now rules over the main regions spread across our countries. Commanding are the leaders of our planet, and ruthless.

In this current age, most major cities are looked over by an official leader. Not all leaders are bad people, but they are forced to maintain the peace within their respective realms. My hometown, thankfully, isn't ruled by a gym. Our small town has a few houses and a lab that my best friend's grandfather works in.

His grandfather, Professor Oak, is world-renowned for his studies on the pokemon that have been enslaved to fight on this godforsaken soil. He provides the information directly to the Elite Council, or more specifically the Kanto Elite Four. Professor Oak has never truly wanted to study such heinous information. From what me and his grandson, Pine, have snuck into time and again, we've found things that show the experimentation of different species of pokemon. Old research showing weaknesses and strengths, more recent research on the development of pokemon and some other things we couldn't understand when we were younger.

Ever since the Elite Council took over though, mortality in pokemon, as well as trainers, has elevated to new heights. Pokemon were no longer partners but slaves to the ball their master captured them in. It has been this way for longer than Pine and I have been alive. It wasn't until we became trainers that we knew the cruelty first hand.

It was a normal morning, I woke up in front of my TV that had the usual propaganda running on it. The last thing I remember watching was a documentary on how the leaders earned their power throughout in Kanto. Of course, it only painted them in a positive light. I shut off my TV and walked to my computer to check my email. Nothing but usual spam about how some sort of drug can alleviate any pain in a pokemon. I rolled my eyes and closed it out to head downstairs.

There was government inspection today. All child over the age of 10 and under the age of 18 was to be enlisted into the region military training program when your town was called for inspection. Long has the time passed that Pallet Towns small residency provided any suitable children. The last one from Pallet to be released to the Training Program was Daisy, Pine's big sister and supposedly a few years before that was my father who was enlisted while my mother was still pregnant with me. To this day my mother has been adamant about not losing me to the military.

When I made it down the steps my mother's tear-ridden eyes caught mine. My mother shoved 3000 poke into my hand before telling me to meet with the Professor. Apparently, they had a plan for me and Pine. As she rushed me out the house, I barely had enough time to grab my bag and shoes.

Looking to the north of town as I was headed to Oak's lab, I just felt a chill rush past me before I was startled by Oak's voice behind me.

"Blue!" He ran up behind me a bit out of breath. "What are you doing up here? The Inspectors will be here any minute now, come with me."

I followed but I looked behind me. Something wasn't right.

When we made it into Oak's lab he explained to me some basics on training a pokemon. Initially confused, he further explained that myself and Pine were going to have to leave the town before the Inspectors made it into town. We were to pose as shipment crew of an important parcel for Oak's lab until the coast was clear. For now, at least, we needed something to defend ourselves against the wild pokemon that were sure to attack us on the way to Viridian City.

Oak brought in front of us three pokeballs. "Bulbasaur", "Squirtle" and "Charmander" were scrawled on a sign just above each pokeball.

"I used to be a trainer before I got stuck in this cramped lab. These three pokemon, in particular, are some of the rarest I have managed to get my hands on." He stretched his arms out to me. "After you pick one, I'm officially granting you the status of a Pokemon Trainer with your very own Trainer Card. The pokemon you choose is yours to keep. Please, do not treat them like our Elite Council treats pokemon. They are not weapons, they are our partners. It's something that has been forgotten from this land for such a long time."

Pine and I hung on his words before we both looked down at the pokemon. Pine grabbed the squirtle pokeball before I had a chance to think between them. Watching squirtle pop out of the ball was really awesome to witness. I reached out for the Bulbasaur but before I could actually touch the pokeball the charmander ball popped open and the charmander from inside leaped into my arms, causing me to tumble over.

"I think Charmander chose you. I don't think she wanted to be left behind." Oak pointed out. "It's okay though, Bulbasaur has possibly been my closest companion. I'll keep him here for my own protection."

"Right. What should I call you then Charmander?" I stated, tickling under the small lizard's chin.

"Think about that later. For now, I think it's time we had a small sparring match." Oak declared. "Remember pokemon are deadly, and fighting another is no small task. Please, if you see each other's pokemon struggling, show mercy."

Both Pine and I nodded as I got back to my feet.

"Are you ready Charmander?" I said putting her on her feet. When she nodded I pointed out to Pine. "Then let's go!"

Charmander was immediately charged by Pine's squirtle. Before She was tackled down though, there was a good clean scratch going across Squirtle's face.

"Focus on the wound!" I called out

Charmander let out a growl in confirmation and scratched at the small gash in Squirtle's face. It was a critical hit for sure. Squirtle backed away and fell over in pain crying out and holding its face. That was when Oak stepped in.

"No more! That's all that they should be able to take. These two are still new to fighting and they don't have the strongest attacks or defenses known to them yet. It's good to get them some experience but remember, our goal is not to kill."

Charmander looked up at me. I knelt down and opened my arms and she ran into them.

"I think I'll call you Athena. I don't know what we have ahead of us, but I hope together we can take care of Pallet Town."

"Right, for now, head over to Viridian City. Blue, you go ahead, meet Pine at the Pokemart. I have a few things to take care of your squirtle Pine..."

I started off with Athena at my side. I was scared, but I had to be brave for my mother, and for my town.


	2. To the Pokemart

When Athena and I stopped at the town entrance I hesitated. That chill came back around and I doubted myself. Could I really just avoid the law like this? What would happen if I got caught? What would they do to my mother? My thoughts flooded my head and I looked back to my house. I would never forgive myself if there were anything to happen to her. I took a step back home before I felt Athena tugging at my pant leg. She seemed a bit confused by me turning back around.

For a second I forgot that I was a trainer now. If I went back with a pokemon in my possession, Pallet Town would be punished for trying to avoid enlistment. In the enlistment process, you are provided a pokemon directly which determines what regiment that you are to report to. A lot of the military-run things such as the Gyms have trainers that are directly placed under that tutelage and trained to be officials of that town or city. The military also trains openly against each other due to their access to extremely valuable items that save the lives of pokemon when even on the brink of death. It's how they keep PokeCenters running these days. It's still unknown what these items are but their properties are highly regarded by military officials and from the documented matches between those who challenge each other have been seen spraying their pokemon mid-match but also there is speculation and rumor as to an item that keeps military pokemon from dying after a battle. Of course, that is just speculation from Pine and Daisy when she was still around.

Every trainer outside of the military is expected to apprehend any suspicious activity or unauthorized usage of pokemon in a given area. Pine dubbed these trainers as 'Sentries' being that they are almost unmoving from their given positions and from the stories we've heard they openly challenge anyone just so they could possibly earn a higher rank with a hope of alleviating any pressure on their hometowns. More often than not, if you have a pokemon that isn't registered in the area, you will be challenged. When you are rendered defenseless, you can be either killed by the trainer or sent to the military as a tip-off. Most trainers will send another off to the military where their name is recorded, though for some ruthless trainers that no longer have a town they can go to or care not for its prosperity, death is brought to the traitors of the Council. Additionally, any trainer can challenge another to a battle, the ensuing battle is always a battle to the death of the opponent's pokemon. I always felt sick when watching battles that were required of early career trainers being forced to challenge a leader of a gym or even the occasional challengers to the Elite Four.

I looked down at my hands. Could I even challenge the low-end officials that show their face in Pallet Town? If I am going to defend my town I would have to do so much more than that. But what? I started walking towards Viridian City. Not a lot of options right now but I had to keep up with whatever my mother and old man Oak has planned for me.

On my way over to Viridian, I encountered a drug dealer trying to sell pot or 'Potions' as they have been calling them. Supposedly they have healing properties but something about it has always been shady to me. Aside from that, we were attack by a couple of bird and rat pokemon before we made it to the pokemart. Upon entering I was quickly greeted by the clerk.

"Hello! Welcome to the Viridian City PokeMart! My name is Clarence! How may I assist you?" His greeting was over-enthusiastic, possibly intimidated by Athena being out in the open.

"Uh... Yeah, I'm here to pick up a parcel for Professor Oak?"

"Parcel for Professor Oa-" His confusion was quickly washed away. "Oh! You must be Blue! Please come to the back. I have the parcel back here."

When we went to the backroom we went far in the stocking area to where it was relatively dark.

"Hey, kid," Clarence's tone turned very gruff and different from his clerk voice from before. "I don't know what Oak has told you, but it's very likely that if he sent you out of town he might be in danger."

"I'm just here for his package. I don't want any trouble or anything"

"Yeah," he paused and looked around on a nearby shelf and half-heartedly picked up a white pokeball with a red trim. "Here, take this back to him. He'll know what it means."

"This is just a poorly painted pokeball? What am I to do with-?" There was a loud bang on the doors that startled me. Clarence went to check it out and gave the men at the door his store clerk greeting. The men at the door were on their way from Pallet town. I couldn't hear them too well but they were asking for potions. When they left, Clarence gave me a signal for when the coast was clear. He did let me know that they were the officials assigned to Pallet Town and that there was some sort of altercation that went on there. He avoided asking further about it with fear he might be punished in some kind of way. Though, with Pallet Town having conflicts, there was definitely going to be repercussions. Hopefully, everyone was going to be okay.

I waved off Clarence and headed back home. When I made it back though, the town was in ruins. Pine's house was burned to the ground and Oak's lab was in near collapse. I instinctively ran straight into the building hoping that the Professor was okay. To my relief, Oak was ordering people downstairs with nothing but some dust and a few scraps on his lab coat. There was a different look to him though. When I approached he looked up at me and quickly glanced away and continued barking orders at his aides. I went downstairs as well. Whatever was happening the entire town was involved. When we made it downstairs there was an entire underground system that was set up and tunneled quite deeply.

It was when my eyes marveled at the large chamber below the lab that they locked onto my mother who was covered in blood, eyes closed on a gurney.


	3. Making Friends and Enemies

I darted towards my mother before being stopped by two of Oak's aides. I kicked and flailed trying to get them to let go of me.

"That's my mom! Let me go!" I yanked and pulled but they weren't letting go of me. "Please! I just want.."

A mask was put over my face and everything started getting blurry. The last thing I saw before passing out was my mother's blood that dripped on the floor underneath her.

Upon waking up I was laid out on a stone bed with a sheet and makeshift pillow made of random papers and a shirt. Athena was standing next to the bed almost like a guard at her post. I looked around while sitting up. It was dark in the large room I was in. A few candles were lit but the brightest light in the room was Athena's tail by far. There were a lot of stone beds aside from the one I was in. Only a few were taken by other people. I slowly got to my feet, still groggy, and headed to the only door that was available.

Entering the hallway there seemed to be small wooden signs marked above each door. There was a medical room, a research room, a meeting hall, bathing areas and a mess hall. There were other rooms but I couldn't identify them before I was approached by the Professor.

"Blue! Glad to see you're awake." Oak walked up and patted me on the shoulder turning me to walk with him. "Your mother is okay. She suffered plenty of blood loss but nothing that was fatal. When she did go into shock we were quick to react, one of my aides quickly brought her here while I distracted the two Gym Leaders."

"Gym Leaders?" I pondered as to who could have done this.

"It's best for now that you get stronger before you start thinking of exacting any revenge. Currently, the newest official leading a gym is Brock in Pewter city. Here," Oak pulled out 5 small pokeballs from his lab coat and handed them to me. "Take these pokeballs. Athena is at a disadvantage when fighting against pokemon that Brock uses, but, should you find any pokemon to fight a rock or ground type try and capture them in one of those. Just remember, if you enter an area, the first pokemon that appears is your only option. The use of pokeballs in government ran areas is limited. Attempting to catch any pokemon aside from the first one that is seen is going to cause due suspicion and you will be swarmed by the arcanines of the Police Force."

"I understand. About my mother though, is she going to be safe?"

"Of course. Currently, she is in and out of consciousness. For now, just leave her to us. You go on ahead. Pine went ahead without you."

I bid my farewells and took my leave with Athena. We had to catch up to Pine. On my way back to Viridian City, I managed to meet a pidgey who stumbled in front of me. Already weak I decided to give the pokeballs a try. I threw the pokeball and a brilliant red light spewed from the ball and evaporated the pidgey before the pokeball closed. You could hear the creaking of the pokeball from the pidgey attempting to escape as well as a few caws screeching from inside. No one really knew how the pokeballs worked but it always sounded like the pokemon were tortured inside of them when first being caught. It didn't help that after being caught, it was like being bound to a leash when released from their prisons. The furthest away that a pokemon could reach from their respective pokeball was 40 meters. When the pokeball ceased to move I took the ball in my hand and released the pokemon inside of it.

"Your name is now Icarus," I spoke to him directly on one knee. "Please allow me to be your master. I promise to protect you with my life, as a trainer who wishes to end the pain of all pokemon, I will fight to ensure the eventual freedom of the curse that binds you. And if I fail I will leave a mark so other trainers will do so in the future."

I didn't want the frail-looking bird to be intimidated by me. I heard some flapping as Icarus perched my shoulder. Not like he had much anywhere else to go but at least he trusted me enough to be that close. Nonetheless, I ventured towards Viridian to the pokecenter. I never used Pine's name directly but instead described him and asking if anyone had seen him. There was one man who saw Pine heading west training for the Pokemon League. When I headed over there, I was attacked by a rattata who quickly tackled Athena to the ground before Athena burned its tail with a small flame that left her mouth. Before any more damage could be done I threw a pokeball at the rattata making her mine. I provided my capture speech to the newly named Karni Mata, who allowed me to walk with her.

When I finally found Pine training his squirtle against a pidgey, he was ruthlessly beating it into submission before carelessly tossing the pokeball at it. When he noticed me, he ran up and asked how I was doing. I explained everything that happened from my perspective before he sat down on a nearby boulder. Pine let me know that he didn't get to catch much of what happened as it happened so fast, but a male and female trainer had attacked my mother. He didn't recognize them though or the pokemon that they used. When the dust settled Oak had snuck him out through the tunnel which led to the entrance of the Pokemon League. He was barred from entry of course for not having the proper clearance from the gym leaders. He assumed that if he were able to get all eight badges he could enter the pokemon league and challenge the rule of the Elite Council.

It was then that myself and Pine made a pact that we would rise to challenge their rule and abolish them from the Kanto region so that we could live in peace no matter the costs. I let Pine know that I was going to start training for Brock. He then headed off ahead of me and said he would be me to it.

I reached the mouth of Viridian Forest taking a long deep breath. I tried to take a step forward before a wily caterpie spat silk in front of me causing me to trip. I grabbed it by its tail before calling out to Athena to throw the ball that fell out of my pocket. Obviously, there was a misunderstanding and I explained my speech to Psykhe the Caterpie as well. After that was cleared up I took my first step into Viridian Forest.

I approached the pokemon infested areas with caution trying to avoid battle for the time being. In school, we learned about what species of pokemon reside where and how common a sighting of them were. Recalling that memory, I knew that pikachu reside in this forest and I wished to avoid being stuck with a weedle instead considering that I already had a caterpie.

I was approached by a few sentries who hadn't caught on that I was a trainer. I let them know that I was just passing through just hoping to avoid pokemon along the way to avoid being attacked. They advised me of the safest passages to take along the way to avoid as many pokemon as possible. It wasn't until the last sentry that I was discovered following behind Psykhe, who had been leading me through the thickets of grass and forestation avoiding interaction with the weedle of the forest. The sentry sent out a weedle of his own and quickly blocked my path.

"Identify yourself!" The sentry barked loudly so as to draw any attention from nearby sentries to alert of danger.

"I'm just passing by! I don't want any trouble." I held my hands up as to show that I was surrendering. "I'm just trying to visit Pewter city because I wanted to see a different gym than Viridian's."

"Weedle, attack the caterpie!" At that moment, Psykhe flinched and looked back to me clearing all doubts of us working together. I took position behind him when he contested the weedle's silk spitting with his own to cancel each other out. I quickly called out Icarus who flew down from above as Psykhe retreated behind me. To Icarus' surprise though, the weedle leaped directly into Icarus, jabbing its poison barb into Icarus' abdomen. Icarus lost a little height at first before rapidly flapping its wings creating a small gust of wind that caught the weedle while it was still in the air. As the wind whipped up, the weedle no longer had control over its own movement and flew into a tree. I took this time to charge the sentry full force, knocking him down. Psykhe was quick to follow up with a bit of silk spinning around his feet before we took off outside the forest.

When the forest cleared I went to hide in the grass, just in case any sentries were to follow me. Running into the grass I tripped over a weedle who proceeded to jab me in the ankle with its poison barb. I winced at first but Psykhe tackled the weedle who I proceeded to throw a pokeball at. Not so much to capture the pokemon but to avoid continued conflicts while there might be sentries looking for me. I was not too familiar with the terrain around me and I needed every advantage I could get to avoid being recognized. I leaned against the rock cliff outside the forest clearing and noticed my heavy breathing. I was poisoned.

Poison from a weedle is slow moving unlike bite from a snake pokemon or the gas from a koffing or weezing. I sent Icarus to watch over the forest clearing and to return if it sees any sentries heading this way. Taking a water bottle from my bag I cleaned the sting area the best that I could in preparation to cut the wound open. I released Athena from her pokeball and pulled out my pocket knife. She turned to me and I heated the blade over her tail fire to sterilize it. Putting the collar of my shirt in my mouth to bite down onto and lacerated the infected area. I groaned loudly in pain before my vision started getting blurry. I poured more water on the wound and bandaged it the best I could before passing out from the pain.


	4. Graduating

I woke up to Athena, proudly standing guard in front of me. Wiping the drool that was spilling along my cheek, I sat up and leaned against the cliff behind me. It was night already and the darkness crept eerily across the sky. The whistling wind swept the cold air south into the forest, bringing the dust of the mountains that surrounded Pewter City with it. The Stone Gray City was a quiet mining town with a museum and scattered houses. While being sparsely populated, the city sustained itself on the revenue of the museum and Mount Moon. Mount Moon, which was essentially a mine stuck on Route 4, produced rare and highly sought stones after that were known for their ability to evolve certain pokemon. They had similar properties to the primary evolutionary stones that we learned about in Oak's lectures when I was younger.

The main four stones, fire, water, leaf and thunder, were very rare to the public due to the ability to force specific pokemon into their next stage of their evolutionary line. A pokemon that evolves experiences a power spike that allows them to far surpass what they were able to do in their pre-evolved forms. The stones were kept away from the public, Professor Oak believes, because it would cause a lot of trainers would use the stones against the Elite Council and form a rebellion. Oak was very open about his feelings towards how the stones were handled. In fact, he spoke so openly that a lot of people feared that he would cause an established military force to watch over Pallet Town. Much to the chagrin of the parents, the children of Pallet hung on every word that Oak had to say. It was hard not to accept his teachings as everything he said, he backed up with some sort of proof. For the stones in particular, he actually showed the kids that attended his lecture a Leaf Stone that he was provided, he was told to test a batch of them on his bulbasaur to see if it would work and on any other grass type pokemon that he could get his hands on. He had a small collection that he passed over to Daisy the month before she was drawn into the military.

She brought the stones with her, which brought a lot of concern for the people of Pallet. She was a loved figure in the small town that always brought people a smile when other people whenever they saw news of the Council's cruelty to the people of larger cities. She was always leading us kids in games to keep us entertained while the adults went about their town meetings and even during lockdowns she would tell us stories that just made Pine and I want to travel the entire world. When she was drafted she was two months away from being ineligible, just on the brink of hitting eighteen where she could not be taken into the military, it was like Pallet Town lost it's life.

The lights in town would usually go out early after she was taken. There was also an increased fear of more and more drafts to happen in Pallet Town since we hadn't had one since my father was taken in. The kids still attended Oak's lectures but he seemed more intense when he spoke about the government. When Daisy was first taken into the draft he explained the process to those of us that hadn't really understood what was going on. When a person is enlisted into the military training program it was to breed the best trainers to participate in their respective region's Master Tournament. After the Master Tournament is completed each winning trainer is treated as the region champion that leads to the Tournament of Champions where six of the conquered regions take their best pokemon into a battle of dominance. The Kanto/Johto Champion, Lance, is also the head of the Elite Council that resides over the two regions. Lance is well-known for overwhelming his opponents with his Dragon pokemon and their sheer power. Being that the Kanto and Johto regions are so closely knit, he took it upon himself to lead the two instead of having them separated and had the power to do so without being challenged.

The worst part about the tournaments was the training alone. Kanto and Johto had very strict rules placed on them with their training. I wasn't sure about the other regions but the training was definitely portrayed as brutal for what it transformed trainers into. It's said that once you enter the training regimen you do not come out the same person. A lot of trainers come out mentally absent from what they once were and you become only an echo of your past life that you had. That is, if you even make it out of training. It is also rumored that trainers that aren't actually prepared to fight against others have not only witnessed their partner pokemon killed in battle but could often lead to the trainer being killed in the process. If you were lucky enough to survive the encounter you are provided sentry status where you are assigned a team of pokemon and sent to defend a specific area. The further that you got in training, the stronger your assigned team. Typically though, there were far less trainers making it out of training in some fashion than those that enter it. If you manage to graduate from training then you were assigned an official role. The bottom of the class made it in as gym trainers that were to uphold any choas given in their town or city. The middle were normally high rank trainers that are sent off for additional training for special roles outside public knowledge. The top of the class was almost always given a prestigious role, anything between a gym leader to the occasional position on the Elite Council or one of the executive positions just outside of it. The graduating classes are always presented on TV a two years after they are taken into training and the classes get distributed quite often unevenly between the lower two tiers. Tomorrow will mark the end of Daisy's second year which will be broadcast midday.

I got to my feet and dusted myself off. Challenging a gym leader is the second way to appease the power struggle that occurs in the cities. If it's citizens are unhappy with a gym leader they can challenge them outright with their own pokemon so long as all of it's trainers that are to battle are registered. If any person were to fall to the leader though, the cost is with their life. The death stipulation makes a trainer second guess if the cause is actually worth challenging a leader allowing so much corruption and cruelty to the people of each city. If the trainer manages to succeed in taking on the gym, they are provided a badge that shows that you defeated the respective gym's leader. A badge signifies your strength, it also, gives you rights to the gym leaders position if you so choose though it would mean you must execute them yourself. If you choose not to, you are granted a percentage of income that is levied from the city's primary sources of money. In the few times that any of the gyms were challenged, just twice has there been success in defeating the leaders and only once the leader been recorded as executed. No one would dare challenge the Viridian Gym as it is known as the toughest in Kanto currently. Most people haven't even seen the leader as they usually get swept out by the gym trainers there. It's rumored that the leader of the Viridian Gym is also one of the executives that run the government operations across all cities. Of course that was just speculation that was scattered in old man Oak's research. But the record does show, that the current leader is as cruel as they come, being the one to execute another human for the cities power and then continue its shady business under himself.

The rest of the morning I spent with my pokemon, making them stronger was definitely a goal that I had to keep in mind. If Oak wanted me to challenge the Pewter City Gym, it wasn't because he wanted me to take control of a city, it was because he wanted to spark something much bigger than that.

I let my pokemon know very well that what we were going to go through was going to be tough and I needed them to be strong for me so I could be strong for them. We trained very hard leading to Psykhe and Karni Mata evolving into butterfree and raticate respectively. Psykhe in particular was training beyond her limits. After evolving into butterfree it was able to use telekinesis to attack other pokemon though while we were training her speed she would weave like we planned but after a while the telekinetic attack started giving of a weird dust. Psykhe seemed to forget how to use her telekinesis and instead gave off a powder from her wings. With further tests we actually caused a few wild rattata and pidgey to have minor paralysis in their limbs which caused them to struggle moving. Figuring though that we were going against rock type pokemon in Brock, I might have preferred Psykhe keep her psychic abilities. I decided that I should continue training with Karni Mata as the main force to fight Brock with. During the training, there was a move in particular that I felt was our best bet for defeating Pewter City's leader.

When noon came around I went into Pewter City but kept my head low as to avoid attention. I visited the PokeCenter so they could relax. PokeCenters are well known for their spas as well as physical and aroma therapy for pokemon. Pokemon Centers are not government run, instead it is a foundation of pokemon lovers that have volunteered what they have to treating wounded pokemon. The PokeCenter Foundation had established itself in all of the major cities that I could think of opening whatever front they could. They avoid taxation by treating all pokemon without question, including government officials, for absolutely free. While my pokemon were being treated I sat at one of the tables and eyed the TV. The graduation ceremony had already started but currently it was Lance speaking to the audience about how necessary it was to have these children and teenagers supporting the cause of the Elite Council. Something inside me boiled whenever he mentioned the Council or how the military was ran through the cities acting as if there was some just cause for abusing the women and children. As the ceremony proceeded, the students were lined up to shake hands with Lance as they went on stage. When they made it onto stage they were provided a pokeball that signified their level of training. The traditional red over white pokeball was provided to the lower end of graduates which was still considered strong considering that they made it out of training. Great balls which had a blue top with red marks on it were for those that were middling though as soon as they were on stage they were immediately whisked off stage. The last set of trainers were granted ultra balls. A black topped pokeball with a yellow marking that was known for being able to catch really strong pokemon. There were only 23 graduates out of the 108 that were taken that year which was announced by Lance. They passed out 13 pokeballs, 6 great balls and 3 ultra balls. The math didn't add up and I hadn't seen Daisy as of yet. Lance swaggered his way over to a curtain and pulled out a very familiar pokeball. It was all white with a red trim for the middle, much like the one that was painted by Clarence that he made me deliver to Oak.

"This pokeball, this 'premier' ball, is something of a special symbol here!" Lance spoke with a lot of grandeur, as if to show that he was about to pull of a magic trick before everyone's eyes. "I wanted to make a grand spectacle of our final graduate! I introduce to you all the Master Pokemon Coordinator from Pallet Town, Daisy Oak!"

The lights blacked out except for a single spotlight at center stage. From the top, Daisy drifted down into view almost angelically with the help of two butterfree. There was a gentle applause from the audience, but I was in near shock from what I was seeing. She wasn't wearing the normal garb of the graduates or even that of a military official. Instead she was in a strange dress, and with the powder of the butterfree, she seemed to sparkle more than she ever has before. She was set down on her feet, where she pet on of the butterfree before walking up to Lance. Lance knelt before her offering the white pokeball which she gently took into her hands. From here Daisy took over the ceremony, giving thanks to the audience, she even stated that she knew that this broadcast was going to be forced onto every television so she wanted to assure everyone in Pallet Town that she was safe. She was to be participating in further contests to represent Kanto. She didn't get into to much more detail, instead focusing more on talking about how she felt for other families and the trainers that were not able to make it. Then, at the end, she stated something that sounded nothing like the Daisy Oak that I knew.

"...hard fought were the battles from each trainer. We lost many good people for a cause lead by our council and they will always be remembered. But for the cause that we share, their strength was not enough, and with that, they must be eliminated. Thank you for your time here! We all wish you the best!"

Daisy had not faltered in a single word that was spoken before the final words and the broadcast went off air. The Daisy I knew would never strike another being down for any reason. Did the training change her so much that she would openly kill another person let alone a pokemon? She had always been so kind to everyone she came in contact with and never resorted to violence even if the situation demanded it. What could have caused such a dramatic change in morals? Why was she presented separately from everyone else?

I was so lost in thought that I hadn't realized that Icarus had already returned from the PokeCenter's spa. When he perched on my shoulder I flinched before realizing it was him. When the rest of my pokemon came out I placed them all in their pokeballs and walked out the PokeCenter more confused than determined.

What happened to Daisy?


	5. Lightyears

Nothing seemed right anymore. Not only was Daisy unscathed but she also was the centerpiece of the ceremony that showed. To add, her grace had not dwindled, yet she spoke as if she had already killed many others. Daisy was always a lover of peace and when she could, she preferred to talk out issues instead of battling. She never truly owned a pokemon though they were attracted to her anyway, always taking care of injured pokemon just outside of Pallet Town and occasionally grooming them. When she took a trip to Hoenn, she befriended wild pokemon and became famous with them, earning the title of Master Pokemon Coordinator during the annual Spring Pokemon Contest, a contest geared more towards showing off than beating others to the brink of death. Daisy was in no way an approving person of violence. Thinking of her killing another was beyond my imagination.

I shook off my thoughts and brought my attention forward. I was standing in front of the city gym for almost ten minutes just blankly staring at the door. I brought out Karni Mata and stepped inside.

Immediately, as I limped into the gym, with my bum ankle, I was approached by a seemingly eccentric person who pulled me to the side all the while speaking incredibly fast.

"Oh! You must be the new gym trainer! Nice to see that you finally made it, I have been waiting for you all day! You managed to make it out of the Military Training Program. It's surprising that they assigned another person to the new leader here. Considering that his father was the past leader and just retired letting all go of his previous trainers and..." The man kept going until we were off to the side of a pillar. He held a finger up to his mouth, signing to keep quiet. He checked to see if the coast was clear before he spoke to me in a low voice. "Hey Blue, I've been waiting for you to arrive. Professor Oak sent me out a couple months ago to serve as an adviser to Brock, the leader of this gym. He's been keeping me up to date with the events of Pallet Town."

"A couple months ago?" I asked out of confusion. "But he literally just told me to-"

"Not the time, we have to be fast if you are going to be challenging Brock. I'm sure Oak told you about how Brock uses rock types. They are defensive onslaughts so you must hit them hard and often for them to go down. Hopefully you have a pokemon that is good defensively as it is offensively." He looked over his shoulder. "Okay, I have to let you go now, I'll be at the front when you beat him. Just do me a favor and don't die out there, kid."

He pushed me out into the open, causing me to trip over my feet, before calling out to Brock.

"Hey, boss! This kid wasn't even a graduate, he said he wants to take you out!"

The adviser scrambled over to Brock's side and they started whispering to each other. After a little deliberation, Brock called for his sole gym trainer by the name of Liam to battle me first before I could even challenge Brock himself. I was not too sure how I should have taken it, but Karni Mata stood in front of me, baring her teeth, ready for battle. Not even a second later, Liam summoned a geodude to fight. Quick to react, Karni Mata sprinted towards the geodude at full speed. Given little time to dodge the attack, the geodude put his hands out to try and stop the tackle, but instead of being charged full on, Karni Mata pushed the geodude to the ground and smashed her fangs into the top of the geodude's skull cracking it loudly causing the geodude to drop. I could feel the puke running up my throat as Karni Mata knocked the geodude from under her. Up until now, I only let my pokemon toss the others around and just injuring them. I was not ready for Karni Mata to just rush in and kill my opponent's pokemon at all and with such ferocity. While I was still trying to gather myself, Liam, seeming like an already battle-hardened trainer that had already lost many pokemon, brought out a sandshrew. The sandshrew didn't look near as tough as the geodude was. Karni Mata bared her teeth again preparing for another attack before I interrupted the battle.

"Please submit Mr. Liam!" I cried out to him. "I do not want to kill your pokemon. My fight is not with you. So please surrender."

"You may be better than me..." His sandshrew readied its claws. "But you are light years away from ever challenging Brock!"

The sandshrew leaped forward hoping to scratch Karni Mata but as the claw came near her, she stepped under the strike and drove her fangs into the neck of the sandshrew. There were a few moments of jerking before its limp body was gently placed down on the rocky floor.

"I am sorry Mr. Liam."

"Me too..." He said grimly. "I forgot light-years measure distance and not time."

"I... what?" His strange notion caught me off guard, but before he could say anything else, he walked to the side of the gym which led to Brock stepping down to face me. "Brock, I have no intentions of losing. But if you are losing, please surrender, I do not wish to kill your pokemon needlessly."

"Enough talk novice!" His voice boomed at me with force. "You obviously have not witnessed death amidst battle before! You are too young to understand why the pokemon even fight in the first place. Now, I shall crush you under the weight of stones!"

As his words finished, his geodude came out with more confidence than the previous one. Karni Mata was faster than this geodude as well though, leading to her quickly thrusting the sharp fangs of hers into geodude's arm. While the geodude was injured, he was not out of the fight yet. He went in for a tackle but so did Karni Mata causing them to crash into each other. Karni Mata far overpowered the geodude though, smashing him into one of the boulders that decorated the gym causing the geodude to lose a large chunk of his body causing him to fall. Karni Mata cried out in triumph while I sheepishly looked away from the battle. During my instance of looking away, an enormous rock snake towered over Karni Mata.

"Karni Mata look out!" I called out instinctively. The Onix slammed its tail on the floor of the gym missing Karni Mata just barely. Just as I was about to cheer out to her for dodging the attack, rocks jutted out around Karni Mata surrounding her. The rocks enclosed Karni Mata so tightly that she cried out in pain.

"It's called Rock Tomb, and that will be your pokemon's grave!" Brock's onix roared loudly and charged up its tail to smash the rocks. With all that power, it was sure to break the rock tomb and anything underneath it.

"Karni Mata! Use your fangs to break out!" As the tail of Onix was coming down, Karni Mata smashed a single rock just enough to break free and avoid most of the blow. Onix's tailed slammed so incredibly hard on the ground, causing a shockwave that blasted rocks all over the place, knocking me off my feet and into a pillar. Dust flew everywhere and the battlefield was almost invisible. I spat a few coughs out trying to catch my breath as the dust cleared hearing nothing but a few more rocks smashing. When I could see again, Karni Mata was mounted on the onix's neck before shattering the rock underneath her with her fangs, effectively removing the head of the pokemon. Onix's head came crashing to the floor causing a smaller shockwave to erupt and shake the gym floor. Karni Mata raced down the rock snake body and drew it's fighting stance in front of me.

"Enough! You win." The dust finally cleared around where Brock, he was kneeling. "I am clearly no match for you. I took this oath as a gym leader and can't even manage to beat a child that uses a rat as a primary form of killing. The least I could do is die honorably."

"I wish not to kill you, Mr. Brock." I stood up and recalled Karni Mata to her pokeball withdrawing her from the battlefield. "What I need is information. How do I go about challenging the Elite Council?"

"What?!" Brock's eyes quickly met mine in disbelief. "You may have beaten me but you are out of your league if you think you are on Lance's level."

"I plan to train and take him out or die trying. He changed someone close to me into a monster." I clenched my fists thinking about the graduating ceremony. It had to be Lance's fault that Daisy changed so much. There was nothing that would make her this way on her own. "That man is going to pay."

"Even if you were strong enough, you would have to defeat all of us gym leaders and take their badges before you are even granted passage to the pokemon league. Just before that, you will have to make it through the monstrosities that reside on Victory Road which is tougher than any gym you could face. To top it off you would have to beat three other carefully selected trainers, who are considered masters in their respective types, with no breaks as well as Lance directly after. "

"You seem well informed." I held out my hand. "I'm going to need your badge."

"I'm well informed because my father challenged them." He shoved the badge in my hand which dangled from a small chain. "He died before even making it past The Ice Princess, Lorelei. Crushed him under ice, which let me develop Rock Tomb. I was going to challenge them one day, but if they find out that I was defeated by a mere child, I would lose my rank and position anyway."

"Then I will avenge him for the both of us." I turned to take my leave. "Let Pewter City know that I don't plan to fail."

As I closed the gym door behind me and let go of a sigh that I was holding back. I had put on a lot of bravado after feeling so sick during the fight. I wasn't even sure what I was going on about. I had nothing to really prove to him, yet I spoke as if I was already strong enough to take Lance head on. I couldn't even bear witness to the death of an enemy pokemon. The sound of Liam's geodude cracking brought such a nauseating memory that I didn't want to repeat. From here I refused to let any more pokemon die by my hand. Killing was not right or justifiable to me anymore. Pokemon are not just tools to be cast away, they are living breathing creatures that have every right to live as another human being.

I went to visit the PokeCenter again to give Karni Mata a well-deserved rest, but as I entered I was quickly mobbed by almost everyone in there. Apparently, the battle I had was televised locally and everyone that was in the PokeCenter at the time hung onto every word that I stated. A lot of questions about whether I was going to challenge Lance and force him to end the drafting in Kanto popped up. There were other questions asking how I managed to beat Brock so easily. One person asked how I became a registered trainer to travel between cities without being apprehended. It was a young boy with a jigglypuff by his side that had asked which caused the rest of the crowd to quiet and look at me inquisitively. I took a seat and began to explain.

I told them everything that I knew. I let them all know that I was from Pallet Town where the well renowned Professor Oak resided, which brought many grunts of disgust, as well as the situation with Daisy, his granddaughter, who the Nurse at the desk was a fan of. I brought to their attention that I found my mother recently beaten, even though she wasn't a trainer. I lead all of that into the fact that Oak had given me Athena my Charmander to challenge Brock so that I could earn a badge and avoid being recruited into the Military Training Program which recently invaded Pallet Town. To my surprise, Pewter City was just hit by their own enlistment team which took two young girls and a teenage boy into their ranks yesterday. I also let them know that I made it through Viridian Forest by acting as if I was just passing through without pokemon but was attacked by one of the last sentries who saw through my act. Eventually getting away but being poisoned by clumsiness. I showed everyone the bandaged area around my ankle which the nurse said she could look at it. After telling them more about my trip, not counting a few naysayers that were drowned out, everyone seemed generally excited that someone was finally challenging the rule of The Elite Council. There were obviously other trainers that were not under the governing of The Elite Council, but none have openly challenged the gyms in an act of defiance before. It was well known that trainers typically became trainers on their own agenda and didn't really have an affiliation with the military or the cities.

After getting the wound patched up properly, I waved everyone off and gave them as convincing of a smile that I could muster. My issue was that I wasn't sure if I was trying to convince them or myself.


	6. Missing Save File

Unfortunately, life decided to make sure that I didn't have the save for this story available and I don't want to make up information for the story to go off of. I might restart the story in the same universe at a future date. But not having it is really disheartening :(


End file.
